When the workshop was debugging a new machine the day before yesterday, the operator Xiao Liu suddenly shouted: "Look! This coffee particle packaging machine is weighing sugar cubes!" Everyone gathered around and saw that the error value on the display was half a point lower than that of ordinary spherical coffee particles. If it were three years ago, our feeder would have been stuck and smoked when it encountered such irregular coffee particles.
This matter has to start with the special order last year. A customer in Yunnan came to the door with freeze-dried coffee tablets, each of which had an irregular honeycomb structure. They tried the coffee granule packaging machines of three factories, but they either blocked the material or weighed inaccurately. At that time, our feeder engineer Lao Zhou spent three days in the laboratory, and finally said with a coffee cup in his hand: "We have to let the feeder learn to 'blindly grasp'!"
Don't tell me, this metaphor is really apt. The traditional vibrating feeder is like using chopsticks to pick up soybeans, and it is difficult to encounter special-shaped coffee granules. The flexible feeding technology we developed has installed a bionic flexible guide plate at the feed inlet. This thing is a bit like a human palm, and can automatically adjust the guide angle according to the shape of the granules. When debugging the equipment for a Japanese customer last month, even cherry-shaped coffee granules could pass smoothly, and the customer said that our coffee granule packaging machine had "tactile nerves".
The most thoughtful thing is anti-static treatment. The static electricity generated by the friction of coffee granules can make the powder adsorbed on the equipment, especially for special-shaped granules with many edges and corners, this problem is more serious. We have implanted ion air curtains in the feeding channel, and now there is no need to worry about coffee powder hanging on the wall even if the humidity in the workshop is low. During a follow-up visit last week, the Yunnan customer said that the qualified rate of their freeze-dried coffee tablets has increased by nearly 30%, and there will be no more debris when unpacking.
The concept of multi-level screening has become popular in the industry recently, and we have installed a "smart goalkeeper" on the coffee granule packaging machine. This system can automatically screen out broken particles during the feeding process, and can also adjust the screening accuracy according to customer needs. Interestingly, a customer who makes creative coffee came to us specifically and said that they need to retain some irregular particles to create a "handmade feel". Guess what? After we adjusted the parameters in reverse, their coffee granule packaging machine has now become a tool for producing special selling points.
The old problem of packaging accuracy control is even more difficult in the face of special-shaped particles. We added a dynamic compensation algorithm to the weighing module, just like installing a thinking brain on the balance. During the test a few days ago, we demonstrated to customers how to pack spherical coffee beans and flaky coffee granules at the same time, and the error value when switching between the two forms always remained at the industry's high-quality level. Xiao Li, who is in charge of quality inspection, stared at the data for a long time and said, "This machine is more stable than our master."
The case that makes us most proud is the multinational order from last quarter. A Middle Eastern customer wanted to package local specialty date-shaped coffee granules with icing on the surface. When ordinary coffee granule packaging machines encounter such sticky materials, the feeder will turn into a paste bucket in minutes. We modified the temperature control system of the flexible feeder overnight. Now the equipment can work in a low temperature environment, and the icing will neither melt nor clump. The customer took a video during the acceptance. In the video, the irregular coffee granules lined up and jumped into the packaging bag, just like dancing a traditional Arabic dance.
There is a calligraphy on the wall of the technical department: "Use softness to overcome hardness". These four words are perfect for flexible feeding technology. Now our coffee granule packaging machine can not only handle more than 30 kinds of irregular granules, but also predict the adaptability of samples sent by customers without testing the machine. A new customer introduced by an old customer two days ago held a conch-shaped coffee granule and asked half-doubtfully: "Can you really pack this?" Our engineer smiled and opened the equipment parameter library, calling up a similar case handled three years ago - sometimes, empirical data is more useful than any manual.
From the laboratory to the production line, these devices that overcome the packaging difficulties of special-shaped coffee granules are rewriting the possibilities of the industry. Next month we will install the seventh-generation flexible feeder with AI recognition function for Brazilian customers. It is said that they have a kind of coffee granules that look like mini pine cones. When the debugging is successful, maybe our coffee granule packaging machine will really be renamed "granule tamer" - after all, being able to make coffee granules of various tricky shapes line up and enter the bag obediently, isn't it taming these naughty little guys?
